All posts by Noob of All Trades

Shawn Lucas is the self identified "Noob of All Trades". He is married and the father of three boys, two of whom help with their own podcast every couple of months. Raised on Atari, Nintendo, and Sega, he enjoys all games and will play all of them to the best of his ability, which is often average at best. Currently, he is most interested in Magic, Heroclix, and other games that he can play with Chris and his sons.
Snap *censored* Pop Culture

Completely Ignorant NFL Wild Card Weekend Preview

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Introduction

As part of my annual awakening and post to the web page, I have picked the NFL Wild Card games each year. One of my shticks is that I go into the games as ignorant as possible. Since I stopped watching the NFL weekly about 10 years ago, that isn’t much of a problem. My research only consists of listening to the Bill Simmons Podcast with Cousin Sal weekly and watching the games on Thanksgiving. This year is no different.

Another idea that I got last year or the year before was to have a coin (actually a coin flipping simulator run 100 times) named George (because he’s a quarter, see) choose the games. I hate that we’ve made sports into such a big deal in this country that people can make money talking about them as if they have more or better insight than the people at home. If I can show that a flipped coin can have just as much, if not more success, than those on television, maybe it will invalidate them. Rage against the machine!

The Picks

Bills at Jaguars (Sunday at 1:05 pm): The Bills made the playoffs on the last day, sparing us the idiot talking heads discussing the Peterman/Taylor decision. Until Christmas, all I knew about the Jags is that Blake Bortles is the quarterback. I will forever love and be indebted to him for winning a fantasy league and then never being invited back. I think it’s a better story if Buffalo wins, at least for a weekend because they’ll be destroyed by the Pats. Instead, I think they’ll save us the false hope and get destroyed by the Jaguars this weekend. George’s Pick: He’s fairly confident that the Jags will win, too. Bills 46, Jaguars 54.

Falcons at Rams (Saturday at 8:15pm): With a rookie head coach and essentially a rookie quarterback, nobody saw the Rams coming this year. The Falcons ping ponged up and down all season, finally sneaking into the playoffs with an impressive 10-6 record. The Falcons would like revenge for their collapse in the Super Bowl last year. The Rams are playing a home game with house money. I think I like the Rams story better than the Falcons. Besides, with UGA in the championship, I don’t think I could stand Georgia being the center of the football universe for a month. Whatever happens, this will be a high scoring game. George’s Pick: He disagrees, firmly, with me and wants to see the Falcons get revenge. Falcons 56, Rams 44.

Titans at Chiefs (Saturday at 4:35 pm): This is the “who cares” bowl for me. If the Jags win, like I think they will, then the winner of this game plays the Patriots for the right to go to the AFC Championship. I guess the Chiefs are better in that scenario because they beat the Pats earlier in the season. However, the Titans winning this game and the next, plus the Jags beating the Steelers appeals to the chaos lover in me. I will go with the Chiefs on the slim chance that they catch the Pats on a bad day next week. George’s Pick: Apparently George is an anarchist and wants to see the whole NFL break down. Titans 51, Chiefs 49.

Panthers at Saints (Sunday at 4:40 pm): Too bad this one is happening this weekend. This would have been a great NFC Championship. Sure, it stinks to have only one division represented in the championship round, but they are always the most fun games. Like the Rams, the Saints are a bit of a surprise, while the Panthers succeeded in spite of their owner resigning (somehow rather quietly) amid, for lack of a better word, weird allegations. I think I like the Saints in this one. George’s Pick: George is picking another road team. Panthers 56, Saints 44.

Wrap Up

Join us next Friday as we post mortem these games and prepare for the Steelers and Patriots to win, set up a rematch, and watch the Pats walk into the Super Bowl again. God, the NFL is so boring.

On the Tabletop

APBA Baseball Replay: 1933 MLB vs. Negro League All-Stars

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(Note: I don’t feel comfortable using the term Negro League, even though it may be historically accurate. Therefore, aside from the title and in this explanation, I will refer to the team as NeL. )

(Note:  The image at the top of the page is courtesy of http://apbagames.com)

Introduction

During my search for free or affordable cards for my APBA baseball game, I had to go no farther than the actual web page itself. They have some accessories for the game like scoresheets and a way to figure out how fatigue might affect pitchers. There wasn’t much in the way of actual cards, but what was there caught my eye and got me to thinking. They have the all-star teams for Major League and NeL baseball from 1933.

I think I mentioned in my article last night that I’ve heard all of the stories about the NeL players. In some cases, as I learned during my modicum of research on Baseball Reference, all we have are stories for some of these players. Look, I know that I’m just a hippie, leftist, snowflake, but it seems like an absolute travesty what has been done to African Americans in this country. Every time I think that I’ve found the bottom, I have to kick over the barrel and dig a little deeper.

Well, I wanted to put these stories to the test, so to speak. It’s not that I found them unbelievable. I mainly just wanted to witness it for myself. More recently, I found a page that has the cards for the 1871 National Association season (a precursor to MLB), so I went to Baseball Reference for some information and found way more for what amounts to a MLB prehistoric league than for the NeL in 1933. That’s shameful. Well, thanks to simulation, justice can at least be minimally served with regards to sports.

 

So, what happened in the games? Well, let’s find out. I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t excited about this.

Game 1 (NeL 8, MLB 2)

The first game of the series started off close with the score 4-2 after 6 innings. Then the NeL exploded for 4 runs in the 7th inning and closed out the game for an 8-2 victory. Their pitcher, Bill Foster, who will turn out to play a massive role in the series, shut down the MLB team. Even though he was a bit wild with 7 walks, he only allowed 4 hits and struck out 5. The MLB 3-8, a group that includes Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, hitters went a combined 0-13. It was an inconsistent, but still dominating performance.

Meanwhile, the NeL team got 13 hits, including 2 homeruns, 4 doubles, and a triple. While just as dominant at the plate as their pitcher was on the mound, they were no less inconsistent in the field. They had 3 errors, though only one proved costly and drove in a run. Overall, a great start to the series.

Player of the Game: This was a tough one. Walter Davis, RF, 2-5, 2B, HR, 2RBI, 1 Run. Could have been Oscar Charleston, 1B, 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2 Run, 1 BB.

Game 2 (NeL 6, MLB 3)

This game was close as well. The NeL led 4-3 after a 2 run 6th for the MLB and a scoreless 7th. It looked like the MLB might steal one before the NeL scored a run each in the 8th and 9th to close it out. While the bottom of the order picked things up, including an important pitch hit by Chick Hafey for the pitcher in that 2 run 6th, the top of the order was 0-17, including a collar in 3 AB with 2 Ks for the Bambino.

NeL starting pitcher, Sam Streeter, got tossed in the 5th inning for arguing balls and strikes. On short rest, Bill Foster came into relief. Even though he looked shaky in the 5th and 6th, he settled down to close out the last three innings and seal another important win.

While not quite the offensive explosion of game 1, the NeL batters put together more than enough offense. Just like in game 1, they spread the wealth around as no batter got more than 2 of their 9 hits.

Player of the Game: Bolstered by his game 1 and game 2 consistency, Oscar Charleston, 1B, 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 Run.

Game 3 (NeL 7, MLB 4)

In a do or die game 3, the MLB manager shook things up by batting Chick Hafey for Babe Ruth and shuffling his lineup. It looked like a good move as MLB charged out to a 3-0 lead in the first 5 innings. A 2 run 6th for the NeL gave the game the flavor of the series as it was close late. A 4 run explosion by the NeL in the 7th brought back memories of game 1. MLB started a comeback in the 8th, loading the bases and scoring a run, but that’s all they would get for the rest of the game. The NeL got back an insurance run in the bottom of the 8th and a scoreless 9th for MLB ended the game and the series.

Even though Chick Hafey performed no better than the Babe had, going 0-4 with 3 Ks, the lineup switch did have a positive effect on the MLB offense. However, the NeL just proved to me too much. Player of Game 2 and nearly player of game 1, Oscar Charleston, drove in 2 with a double. Rap Dion added two more RBI, and a costly error (one of 3 by MLB in the game) gave the NeL the 2 extra runs needed to win the game.

Bill Foster continued his domination. After allowing those 3 runs early, he shut down MLB before handing over batting duties to Vic Harris, who took a BB to spark that 6th inning rally. After that, Sam Streeter held the MLB to only that single run in the 8th and finished them off for good.

Player of the Game: Rap Dixon, CF, 2-4, 2 RBI, 2 Run

Player of the Series: Bill Foster, who got the win in all three games and kept the NeL fighting throughout the series.

Wrap Up

I was surprised that the series ended up being a sweep. In spite of some inconsistencies, it was also a definitive sweep in the favor of the NeL. Their players lived up to the hype and provided a lot of excitement. I was also surprised that some big names that I knew from MLB didn’t perform very well at all. Babe Ruth, in particular, was surprising. I know that he was at the end of his career and maybe shouldn’t have started, but you always hear so much about him that it is humbling to see.

I guess what they say is true. Father Time remains undefeated and even one of the greatest players of all time and a true legend of both baseball and America can’t even compete against aging. Lou Gehrig had one good game, one terrible game, and one great game. That’s more like what you’d expect, but still surprising.

Well, 3 games is not much of a sample size. Also, I still have the cards, so I can always go back to do another series and see if MLB can avenge their loss. If so, what’s stopping me from doing a rubber series to settle this once and for all? Well, all of that will have to wait. As I mentioned earlier, I found a page that has the cards from the 1871 NA season and I want to simulate that. It’s only about 30 games on average for 9 teams. Could be fun. See you then!

Box Scores (Series Stats Coming Soon):

1933 NeL vs. MLB All Star Series

On the Tabletop

There’s No Rerolling in Baseball!

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Introduction

Chris texted me a few weeks ago saying that he had been playing some chess. I chuckled and responded that I had downloaded an app for the New York Times crossword puzzle. More recently, I teted to him, “Speaking of old man games, I found my APBA Baseball game in a closet and started playing it.” He probably had no idea what I meant because he didn’t even reply. It made no difference. I was, and remain, excited by my discovery.

So, what’s the big deal? Well, my interest in sports replay/simulation started in high school. It would appear that the new year has me reminiscing. A trip to my old high school hangout in the Quarters, a year in review post, and now reliving my tie as a hockey league founder.

Inspired by my lack of a social life, I created a competitor hockey league to the NHL. I envisioned it like the USFL (another of my past and maybe future sports sim projects), but more ambitious. I went way back to the origin of the NHL and started my league there. In addition to games, I created rosters, rivals, and even dynasties.

The Good

With all of that in mind, you have probably deduced that the APBA baseball sim is right in my wheelhouse. You have deduced correctly. There is so much that I love about this game. Some of you might wonder why I prefer dice to computer simulations. While the computer games allow you to simulate many more games at once, there’s just something about rolling dice that brings me back to my wild and crazy high school days. Admittedly, I did simulate a season of the USFL on the computer, but the pace of baseball, as the saying goes, is much more deliberate and it fits in with the slow roll (so to speak) of the board game.

Plus, the game is very easy for as complex as it can be. I haven’t played it in probably 10 years, but I was able to pick it back up and play through a best of 5-game series in a few hours spread out over two days. While not at the level of simulating entire seasons in a couple of hours, it’s still a quick game and I could probably do an entire team’s season in a couple of weeks.

Aside from those, the game combines the two things that I enjoy about sports. I’ve played sports in middle and high school. I coached Aiden’s soccer team this past fall and might do it again in the spring. But, my interest in sports starts with watching games with my father and it is a legacy that I, sadly, haven’t yet been able to pass on to my children. Both Quinn and Aiden have sat with me during this most recent bowl season, but their heart isn’t really in it.

Not that I can blame them. I mean, this isn’t even a real game. But, would you have known that if I hadn’t told you?

I watch sports to have fun and unwind. I simulate sports to satiate my need for statistics. I’m so happy to have grown up in the era of advanced metrics, better statistics (both in the predictive and measuring sense of the word), and GPS on players. As a math guy, the more the merrier when it comes to numbers. APBA lets me get as deep as I want into the statistics. I didn’t think to do it this time, but my next simulation I’m going to keep score like it was a real baseball game. That score sheet tells the whole story of the game and keeping score when I was a kid was when I first started to fall in love with the game.

But, it’s not all about numbers. Even though I’m not much of a history person, I can appreciate the history of sports. I can’t tell you why I hate the Browns, their players, and their fans. Well, that’s not entirely true anymore. The Browns have been so terrible for so long that I don’t feel anything but pity for them lately.

The Bengals, though, can go straight to hell. And, I’ll tell you why I feel that way, too, if you want to hear.

APBA Baseball allows me to either rewrite or relive that history. I can explore “what if” scenarios. The one that haunts me to this day is “Slow” Sid Bream crossing home plate in the NLCS to beat my juggernaut Pirates. If only I could replay that game and the subsequent series. Oh, wait! I can! I haven’t yet, but it’s time to research the 1992 season card set and get to changing that result.

I could witness history. Maybe that game was just meant to be and no matter how many times I replay it, the Braves will always win. I would also love to be able to watch those same Pirates. Well, not really the same, but you get the point. Maybe I could watch them win either of the 70s World Series or the one against the Yankees with Bill Mazeroski getting the game winning home run.

During my brief stint as a student at the University of Pittsburgh, I saw the plate.

Or, I could just mash a whole bunch of players together in an attempt to create an all-time all star team. I sort of did that with the games that I played to acclimate myself with the rules again. I didn’t create either team, but I found all star teams for both the MLB and NeL from 1933. I got the idea to play them against each other in a series because I’ve always heard about how great the Negro League players were and what a tragedy it is that none of the players ever got to play against major league competition. Not that I ever doubted it, but I wanted to see for myself. I will include a link to that recap at the end of this article.

The Bad

Initially, when Christine saw me looking at the game, she mentioned that Aiden might be able to play it with me. I said, “No, it’s just a one player game.” It technically might be and everything that I’ve seen about the game would suggest that many people only play one player. And, that goes to show how much I know. I just looked up the game on the web page and they are designed for 2 players. It’s just that most of us must be loners and play solitaire. So, I missed out on an opportunity to play a new game with Aiden. That one is easily remedied.

Well, that’s embarrassing.

The only other negative is my fault, too. There’s a master set to the game that allows you to do things like account for wind and park effects. I used to have the master set, but I must have misplaced it. All I could find was the wind effects chart and that made almost no sense to me. If I’m going to keep playing the game, that’s definitely something that I want. It stinks that I will have to pay for it again.

The Ugly

Speaking of paying for things, this is where I discuss the worst part of the game. Usually, this is price and it’s no different this time. The game itself isn’t too expensive. You pay 50 dollars and get everything you need to play the game, plus you get the previous year’s two World Series teams to get used to the card layout. Even the Master rules are only 25 extra dollars.

After that, though, is when the cost starts to add up and become slightly prohibitive. Each replay season costs anywhere from 40-75 dollars depending on the number of player cards. Granted, you get all players for all teams plus any updates that might happen later, but that’s a crazy cost for some cards. I haven’t found any place that pirates them and I doubt that I would even take advantage if they did. It’s not that I’m above that sort of thing, as we’ve seen. I ‘m just impressed that they are still this little company plugging away at something they love and haven’t had to sell out like many of the other games from my childhood.

The Verdict

This game is so much fun. I had a blast simulating that series that I talked about earlier. I think that it could even be more fun playing against someone else and I plan to test that with one of the boys this week. Tomorrow might be good as everyone has a snow day. I don’t know how much historical replay I will be doing as the 75 dollar price tag is a bit too rich for me right now. However, I will probably get the 1992 season to replay that dang NLCS and I’ll keep on looking for free cards to keep me occupied in the meantime.

I mean, I may or may not have a few of these types of proxies lying around for my Modern/Legacy storm deck.

Click here for the 1933 MLB/NeL All-Star Series recap.

Snap *censored* Pop Culture

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of The Last Jedi

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Introduction

A little over 2 weeks ago, we went to see The Last Jedi. I invited my father in law because he went to see The Force Awakens with us and seemed to have a good time. Also, we enjoy our traditions in this family. Counter to seemingly everyone else, I went in search of leaks and spoilers. I have not been indoctrinated by pop culture to yearn for that “gotcha” moment to keep me entertained, so I don’t mind going in “spoiled”. I found a reddit thread that seemed legit and sated my Star Wars fever for a few days. I also stumbled on some hatred. While not unusual for a Star Wars film, this felt different. I will cover it more in the Ugly section. I also waited to write this review because I had made plans to see it again this past weekend, but they never materialized. So, before I forget any more details about the movie, on to the review.

The Good

At the risk of sounding cliche, the movie is good because it is Star Wars. Hey, the only reason that sounds cliche around here is because that is my one hacky writer move that I repeat in every one of these reviews. As usual, though, it is true. All of the things that make a Star Wars movie great are present in this film. Lightsaber battles, dog fights on planets and in space, family tension, mystery, cute stuffy type animals, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this” (it’s hidden pretty well because I missed it), wonderful scenery, cool new aliens, and Princess/General Leia.

Although that last one isn’t going to be true anymore going forward. What, too soon?

After the near shot for shot remake of the original movie as The Force Awakens, I feared that we were in for a retelling of the original trilogy with new characters. That simply wasn’t true for this movie. Sure, there were tidbits that called back to the original movies, but this movie is exactly what it needed to be.

When talking with my friend that wanted to make plans to see it this weekend, that’s where I ended up on the movie. He asked me what I thought, and I said, “I loved it.” Then I started to walk that statement back a bit. It’s not that I didn’t love it, it’s just that there’s been some push back to this movie. I suppose that those complaints are valid in some form or fashion. I mean, even Luke Skywalker himself has said that he didn’t like the direction of his character for the movie. It’s just that I don’t agree with those criticisms.

So, I started with “I love it” and that is my true, unfiltered opinion of the movie. He replied, “Really?” I had no idea what that meant nor implied. Perhaps he had heard some of the criticisms of the film and now I’d have to defend this thing that I love because that’s what we have to do now. It’s not simply enough to say that you don’t like it. You have to tear it down and make the person who does like it feel bad about themselves for liking it and force them to defend it even though you have no intention of listening to their defense or changing your mind. It’s all very exhausting.

I have no idea if that’s what his “Really?” really meant or not. So, instead of launching into a lengthy defense of the movie, I took a breath and simply said, “It is exactly what it needed to be.” So, what does that mean? It serves as a bridge, giving old fans what they need to say good bye to their old heroes and giving new fans heroes of their own that they will have to say good-bye to someday. And, that’s where some of the normal Star Wars fan hatred is coming from. Change is difficult and scary. But, it is necessary so that things don’t become stagnant. I thought that this movie did a great job of showing that change in as thoughtful a way as it could, but people still weren’t happy. I was, though. As soon as we walked out of the theater, I looked at Aiden and said, “Let’s sneak into that theater and watch it again.” We didn’t, but I was completely serious.

The Bad

I’ve only seen it once and it was through the eyes of younger me as a fan and not as a critic at all. Therefore, I don’t have a ton of negative things to say about the movie, but at least they are the kinds of things that we always say about these movies. Hey, we Star Wars fans are nothing if not consistently inconsistent.

Actual quotes from Star Wars fans after every new movie.

Okay, so what do we always complain about? First, Captain Phasma died in a Boba Fett fashion. Second, cool characters like Maz and evil BB-8 were underutilized. Third, porgs? Seriously? Like I said, ever since Ewoks, there have been the stuffy friendly characters to keep the kids entertained and I must have finally transitioned from kid Star Wars fan who loved the Ewoks to grumpy old man Star Wars fan who could have done without the porgs entirely. I understand that they were inspired by the puffins or something native to the island. I just wished they weren’t there.

Porgs. Like Ewoks, only useless.

One other thing, and this is a common complaint that I’ve heard. The movie is a bit long. I get that they both want to tell the whole story and also want to give people their money’s worth as movie ticket prices creep up to 15 dollars and higher in some cities. However, not everything that was in the movie needed to be there, in my opinion. A few scenes went on for too long and the entire sequence on the casino planet contributed almost nothing to the movie. My cousin made the point that it will probably be more prominently featured in the next movie, which would make sense. Otherwise, I have no idea why it was there.

Finally, and this might just be me. Speaking of the casino planet, what the hell was up with that ending? It felt like more of an epilogue than a “to be continued”. I didn’t need a literal “to be continued” ending like The Force Awakens, but I had no idea what that kid has to do with the overall story. Sure, he’s force sensitive, but we already knew that there were other force sensitive people out there. Sure, he was one of the slaves that tasted a bit of freedom thanks to the rebels, but….oh. Never mind. I said earlier that this movie is serving as a bridge from old to new, but that bridge might be branching. Daisy Ridley has already said that she doesn’t know if she’s going to be back after Episode IX, so yeah. It makes sense. Keep your options open. Very shrewd, Disney.

The Ugly

I’ve complained about the movie a bit. I’ve also hinted that I found some hate on the internet about the movie. Again, that isn’t news. Search long enough and you will find someone on the internet that hates whatever you like. Also, I’ve made the joke a few times that only true Star Wars fans hate Star Wars. I mean, these are the people who pushed the creator of the mythos, their God, out of the picture.

See those jerks over there? Tell them to “Go to Hell” in 65 million different languages.

But, and I said this before, this hate felt different. There is a new malevolence out there. Maybe it’s an old malevolence that has bubbled to the surface. I’m not going to be reductive and blame it all on politics, but the climate has certainly made it more comfortable for these people to exist and let it be known that they exist. It started a bit with The Force Awakens when people got upset that there was a black Stormtrooper and it has been ever present in the Marvel fandom ever since Marvel tried to reinvent some of its heroes. Yes, in the case of the Marvel trolls, there are elements of racism and sexism that are troubling.

On that note, I’ve since heard that a group of internet trolls (some have said that they’re associated with the “alt right”, but I think that’s just a recent boogeyman catch all term to frighten people) that have made it their mission to make sure that these movies fail. I laughed out loud when I heard that. As I said to Chris, these guys might be able to pressure Marvel comics because the profit margin and margin for error are so low, but Star Wars doesn’t care if you’re mad. It will make a billion dollars with or without you. That theory has proven to be true as the movie just recently passed a billion dollars in about two weeks and I think I saw that it was the highest grossing movie of 2017 in only two weeks.

Still, like I said earlier, this kind of thing wears on you. Instead of simply being able to enjoy what you enjoy for reasons that you enjoy it, you are constantly being berated by those who don’t like it and feel that it is their mission to either get you to hate it too or simply argue with you for no reason other than to get you mad. They will stoop to racist, sexist, or just downright rude comments for no other reason that it will get a rise. They claim that they are fighting for free speech, but they’re simply fighting for their right to be jerks. It’s internet trolling taken to the extreme and I refuse to participate anymore.

The Verdict

I loved this movie. Whenever anyone asks and I don’t think about it before answering, that’s my answer. It is not a perfect movie. It is not even a perfect Star Wars movie. It is probably my second favorite of them all behind Empire Strikes Back. As my friend said, everyone liked Empire best and he’s mostly right. But, this one did exactly what it needed to, was a ton of fun to watch, and has left me just as excited to see Episode IX as I was to see this one after The Force Awakens. If you haven’t seen it, see it. If you have, see it again.

May the Force be with you. Always.

Digital Playground, On the Tabletop, Snap *censored* Pop Culture

2 Generations Gaming 2017 in Review

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Introduction

It’s the first day of 2018. This is the time every year that is traditionally set aside for reflection on the previous 365 (or 366) days. There are countdowns, marathons, and years in review. This article falls into the last category. While it has been difficult to maintain a consistent video or podcast schedule, I’ve done okay at updating the web page with at least one article a month. I’ve also kept busy with plenty of other geeky fun. Let’s reminisce on the best, the worst, and the ugliest.

The Good

APBA Baseball: I only recently rediscovered this game in one of my closets and I’m going to write an article this week about the couple of games I played last week. I know that others might prefer Strat-O-Matic or another simulator, but this is the only one I’ve played and it does what I want it to do. Overall, this has been a great addition to my gaming life again and I can’t wait to dive deeper into the baseball simulation greatness.

Mobile Gaming: Old school favorites like Candy Crush and Angry Birds. New favorites like Sim City Build It, Fallout Shelter, Magic the Gathering Puzzle Quest, and Pokemon Go. All of these games have been played with great regularity over the past year on my phone. In fact, most of my video game time has been spent on my phone. That’s saying something for a person who used to denigrate all mobile games as shovelware.

Eternal/Hearthstone: Yes, these are both games that could have technically been included in the mobile section. However, they’ve had more impact on me than the other games included in that list. I started playing Eternal during one of my rage quits from Hearthstone earlier in the year. I had seen Brian Kibler playing the game on stream and figured I’d give it a chance. I’m glad that I did. While I don’t play it as much as when I first started, it still has a place in my weekly rotation. I have had an up and down relationship with Hearthstone. However, as I said to Chris a couple of days ago, I seem to have found my comfort zone in the game. I have little to no interest in competitive play of any sort. I generally just log in every couple of days to do quests, earn gold, and every now and then win a pack that I won’t open.

Comics: 2017 was the year that saw me get back into comics. Marvel’s Secret Empire event led to a discovery of the well executed DC Rebirth titles. Following them for a few months led right into Metal and sticking with Secret Empire to the end let me experience the start of Legacy. Almost all of these events were well executed, but it wasn’t all good for comics this year. More on that later.

Magic the Gathering: You wouldn’t think that I’d rank this so highly in the good category. Given that Chris and I discussed a few times how little we had played the game this year. I wasn’t even watching streams. It just looked like the game had run its course for us. Then, a couple of things happened. Well, on my end, one major thing happened. During one of our summer trips, I played Magic with all three boys. First, we played a couple of two headed giant games with decks that I had built over the years. Then, I picked up the Nicol Bolas box set and finally the Explorers of Ixalan. We haven’t played the Explorers yet, but there is time. Any game that gets me closer to my kids is a great game.

The Best: I know that it came late in the year, but any time a Star Wars movie is released and it is half decent, that will be the best thing about my year. When it is one of the best of the franchise, it will be the best thing of the decade. When I get to experience it with my kids and father in law, it just might be one of the highlights of my life. I won’t say much more because I have an article planned to go into more detail, but I absolutely loved this movie and it was a perfect way to start my holiday break.

The Bad

No New Console: This is the first year in a few that we haven’t gotten a new console. I was going back and forth for a few weeks on whether or not to buy an XBox One Minecraft edition. I’ve had my eye on it for a while. Then, there seems to have been a mix up with my last December check and unless I sub in January, I won’t get paid at all, so economics won out. Liam did buy himself a Gamecube and we found the Dreamcast (but it needs to be repaired), so there are some “new” games being played right now, but no new hardware makes me feel a bit sad. We won’t be down for long, though. We are looking at a Switch and I’m almost positive that I’ll get an XBox in February.

The Worst: Only two for this one? Yep, and only two for the next one, too. By now, you should know my very positive outlook on things and this shouldn’t come as a surprise. Also, the fact that I just talked so much about how comics were a good thing this year might also make this choice for “the worst” seem weird at best and probably perplexing. But, I have a valid explanation. I loved the stories and art of the comics, but hated the cover prices. I was spending far too much money on them and I couldn’t justify doing so anymore. At least with games, I get massive replay value from them and they allow me to spend more time with my kids. Comics did neither of those. It was 3-7 dollars spent on 10-15 minutes of enjoyment. That’s just awful.

The Ugly

Our Podcast Lineup: I was just talking to a friend (and one of the first fans of the page) about the 2 Guys Gaming podcast. He said something about how he thought it was damn good and that it could have been something. Not one to take compliments very gracefully, I changed the subject quickly. However, the podcasts are fun for me to do and I really want to get back to doing them. There have been a few that I listen to that have taken long breaks and come back stronger. One, in particular, stopped and started a few times, but it is again one of my favorites. So, our planning is ugly, but hopefully by this time next year, it will be good.

Nerd on Nerd Violence: This is something that I’ve often spoken against. However, as nerd culture has become popular culture, the nerd on nerd violence has increased to an unacceptable level. It used to be that when you were picked on by somebody, you always had your nerd buddies to get your back. If there was an actual fight, you’d all get your butts kicked, but they were there to take your mind off of being the brunt of some sort of physical or psychological abuse. Now, some of the worst abuse of nerds is coming from other nerds. It isn’t just good-natured joke fights about whether Star Trek or Star Wars is better. It’s full on attacks of each other and the things we hold dear. I’m going to talk about this more in my Star Wars article and it might just be that all violence is increasing, but this makes me incredibly sad.

The Verdict

2017 wasn’t all fun and games. It wasn’t all poorly executed puns, either. It was a good bordering on great year that gives us an excellent foundation to make 2018 even better. Happy New Year, All! Make it the best one ever!

Digital Playground

Just Like Old Times?

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Prologue

This year was a tough Christmas for Liam. He discovered the big reveal about the big man. When he talked with Christine, he said that he already knew a few years ago, but this year it became official when Christine said that he wasn’t going to get Santa presents anymore. I never grew up with Santa, so I can’t fully sympathize with what he’s going through, so Christine has just continued to deal with the fallout. In my defense, I did have a couple of ideas to help him. One, I offered to purchase the gift cards that he didn’t want to give him the cash for his desired “Santa” present, a Gamecube for Pokemon Colosseum. Also, I suggested that he and I go to the Quarters in Hadley (also, he wanted to buy some books at Barnes and Noble with one of his gift cards) just the two of us to get out of the house and have some guy time together.

Journal

We’ve been to the Quarters at least once before. I’m pretty sure we were there twice, but I definitely remember one other visit for my birthday a few years ago. Christine got a Groupon deal and we used it on one of their Super Cereal Saturdays. They sell it as a way to recapture the magic of cereal and Saturday morning cartoons. I’ve mentioned in the past that I’m not usually much of a nostalgia guy, but there are some aspects of my youth that I treasure and want to relive. This is one of the ones that got me big time.

After all, our generation (I know, generations are an idiotic way to define a group of diverse individuals, but bear with me on this one) are the absolute masters of nostalgia, both real and imagined. Generation X, if you believe in such a for some reason, constantly looks to the past to define their present and future. Heck, we were the ones who tried to relive Woodstock without ever actually having been there, except through the copies of the record in our parent’s collections. That might be one of the reasons that I generally push back on nostalgia. Well, that and the fact that things really weren’t better “back then” by and large.

Make America Great Again, amirite?

I’ve already discussed comic books as one of my nostalgia triggers. I’m also planning an end of the year extravaganza for the weekend. So, I suppose something about the end of the year and my looming 42 (the answer to life, the universe, and everything) birthday have me looking back. Like comic books, arcades and arcade games hold a special place in my past. Unlike comic books, which gave me a quiet escape in a fantasy setting from people, the arcade was a social experience for me.

My friend Kevin, who you may know from our lost episode 2 of the now far too long dormant podcast, and I used to spend almost all of our free time and money at the arcade. I say almost all because the remainder of it was spent at McDonalds or the movie theater. It started for the two of us with stupidly epic battles on the first Mortal Kombat machine where neither of us knew a damn thing other than the graphics were killer and so was the violence.

We graduated to MKII, then unfortunately, MK3. All the while, we dabbled with other games like Primal Rage, Virtua Fighter, and Street Fighter. When one or the other was on a winning streak against other competition, we moved on to single player games like Super Mario Bros and Tetris. As our sphere of influence grew because mutual friends became more interested in sports than nerdy pursuits, we got together a 4 man group to tackle Gauntlet, X-Men, The Simpsons, and TMNT.

Arcades were big enough to place honorable mention old schoolers in the corner to give us youngsters a history lesson.

When I went off to college, Kevin and I lived together in a tiny apartment above a store that my extended family owned. When Kevin had to return home, I found myself taking the bus out to the mall to hit up the arcade because I missed having him around. Even today, the love affair with video games continues. We sent each other Steam games for Christmas this year. I chose an old school style D&D dungeon crawler to remind him of the days that we wasted on his old PC playing those games after school.

So, the pull that I felt towards the Quarters every time we drove or rode by on our bikes was real. Almost every game in there has some memory or another attached to it. If it doesn’t, then I wanted to try the game and see if I could make it memorable. Once again, what got me back into the arcade was a promotion. They offer unlimited tokens on Tuesdays from 5 until closing for 5 dollars. It isn’t a bad deal either. As a barcade, they are open until 1 am. I didn’t think that either of us could make it that far, but we were both still ready to play at 9:00 when I finally decided to play Dad and start the drive home.

When this is one of the faces you see from your teenager and he speaks exclusively in YouTube videos and memes, you just have no idea.

Epilogue

It’s often difficult for parents to know if they are doing right by their kids. As I’ve discussed with Kevin on more than occasion, you don’t know if you’ve screwed them up until it is too late. But, I’m positive that this was the right decision. Liam seemed to have a great time, I had a great time, and he thanked me for taking him out. That almost never happens voluntarily anymore.

Things get busy (“And the cat’s in the cradle”) and, as our terrible podcast schedule (what podcast schedule?!) shows, we lost track of time. But, I really have to start making a conscious effort to do these things. I joke about Liam becoming a teenager, mostly because it is a defense mechanism against facing the reality that he isn’t a “kid” anymore. He’s growing into the adult that he will someday be. While I love watching it happen, I also find myself doing what I never thought I would.

I never thought I’d miss the days when…fill in the blank. But, when I look at Liam now, I don’t see that crazy little boy who changed my life 13 years ago. I see a young man who is still changing my life, but in vastly different ways. Every now and then, I have to take a breath, push that pause button, and revel in the silliness of youth. There will be a time, sooner than I I’d like to admit, that it won’t be there for a few years.

On the Tabletop

Impressions of Ixalan

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Introduction

I was in Wal*Mart with Aiden a couple of weeks ago. That’s how most middle age dad stories start. Gone are the days of, “Oh, man, I was so drunk…” or “And that’s when the goat walked by!” I’m not saying that it is better or worse, just different. Oh, and much better. Getting drunk just leads to poor decisions and hangovers and goats stink.

So, Aiden and I were in Wal*Mart for some reason or another. Who the hell knows at this point? They put a Wal*Mart in town locally that then donned a cape to become a Super Wal*Mart (which are technically just regular Wal*Marts at this point and the regular Wal*Marts are K*Marts or Ames or some nonsense, I don’t exactly know) a few years ago. Ever since, because it is so convenient, I find myself at that store at least once a day on average. That’s not to say that I go there every day, but the days that I do go there, I go multiple times, so it probably totals at least 365.25 times in a year.

Okay, time to get serious about this. For whatever reason, a couple of weeks ago, I was walking through Wal*Mart with Aiden and I stumbled on the Explorers of Ixalan box set. With almost no hesitation, I bought it. We have played the Nicol Bolas Archenemy set (as mentioned in a few articles on the page) a few times and enjoyed it, so I thought it would be good to pick this one up, too. Due to the craziness of the holidays and end of semester, we haven’t been able to play it, but I have looked through it and will give my impressions of what I know about it so far.

The Good

I texted Chris to tell him that I bought the game. He responded with, “Never heard of it.” I explained it a bit to him and said, “I really like what they’re doing with casual Magic.” It has taken them a while, but it feels like they are finally embracing the casual player in more ways than just, “Hey, look, we have a semi-casual event every week called Friday Night Magic that plays exactly like the professional events, but worse because you haven’t committed your every waking moment to building meta decks.” Players like me who have absolutely no interest in Standard or Modern and only limited (ha, ha) interest in draft and sealed were left out in the cold.

Cold? Another Shining reference? Nah, the cold never bothered me anyway.

That started to change with some of the prerelease events. I think they might have listened to some of the players who started to wonder out loud what the audience for prereleases were. I took my kids a couple of times because I thought they would be less stress and more fun than a typical event (even FNM), but the competition was still fierce and the barrier for entry was still high. We haven’t been back since, but I’ve watched the events change and they’re making them a bit more varied and noob friendly from what I gather. Perhaps I’ll attend the next one to see if that’s true.

Aside from that, they have also started to run some new events that introduce players into the game. They give away a free deck, teach players the fundamentals of the game, and have a much more friendly atmosphere for newer players. I won’t go out as far as I have in the past to say that they were losing revenue, but both Chris and I (casual players, me much more so than him) were speaking like we’d never play another hand of Magic again. I doubt that we’re the barometer for that sort of thing, but I did start to wonder out loud if the game was suffering a little bit from ignoring that part of the player base.

What better way to hook ’em than with free? Even Heisenberg knows that.

Well, if recent history is to be believed, they aren’t ignoring us anymore. The Archenemy game put together 4 decent decks to play against an uber powerful deck in the same way that the WoW TCG had it’s raid decks. The price point was great for getting as many cards as you did and the game mode itself is fun enough for multiple plays. Looking at Explorers of Ixalan, it appears as if they were testing the waters with the Archenemy box and that they expanded it with this set.

In addition to the traditional card game, this one has a territory acquisition aspect in the form of cards. I haven’t looked closely at the cards, but they look to give bonuses like card draw or stats and keywords for your cards. So, in addition to fending off three other players (since it is a free for all not a 2 headed giant game), you also have to plan your strategy for how to approach the tiles in the game. Choose carefully and be the first to find the lost city!

The Bad

Personally, I think that this is a great addition and makes this game unique among Magic the Gathering. I hope that they plan on continuing to do this type of thing, but I’ve been wrong before. I really liked the Arena of the Planeswalkers game, too, even if the set up was a bit convoluted. They only made a couple of them and then stopped. I think it might have just been because the game played too differently from Magic, so Magic fans didn’t like it too much and it was a bit too complicated for non fans to get into the game.

So, while I worry that this might be a one off, I don’t foresee it falling into the same category as the board game. If that game “suffered” from not being close enough to Magic, this one doesn’t have that problem. It’s exactly a Magic game with this other piece grafted on top of it. Still, the possibility exists that this doesn’t sell and that Wizards will kill this arm of Magic before you know it.

I have no idea what the company’s thoughts are on games that don’t provide a return. I’m sure that Hasbro will be willing to let this division be a loss leader for a while similar to how Disney let Marvel comics division do the same. However, the mouse has come knocking and there’s a chance that this might end up just being a one off and I’ll have none of this to look forward to ever again.

The Verdict

This looks like a fun way to play Magic the Gathering. I will get the boys together next week over vacation to play it and then give my actual thoughts about the game. I don’t think it will happen next week as we are trying to get the podcast up and running again. If nothing else, it will be an annual tradition to talk about Star Wars. So, look for my review of Explorers of Ixalan in two weeks.

Snap *censored* Pop Culture

The State of Comics

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Introduction

I guess you could say that I’m concerned about the future of comic books. Over the last few days, I’ve had two conversations with two different people (Chris and my cousin) about Marvel comics mostly. Neither conversation was completely out of context, but they were both initiated by me. I’m not usually one to fall into the trap of nostalgia, but there are a few things from my childhood that trigger it. As I have recently learned, comics are definitely in that category.

The Good

I mentioned that both conversations revolved around Marvel. I also wrote that I’m concerned about where comics are going. So, you can probably deduce that there might not be much in this section about Marvel. As you’re right, I will start there in an attempt to build some positive capital so that it doesn’t look like I’m piling on later.

First, other than the slightly (but understandable) disappointing ending, Secret Empire was a good story. Nick Spencer took what could have been a disaster and made it work. Then, while I didn’t like all of the titles that have come out of Legacy, I did like the idea of tying the past to the present and attempting to build a bridge to the future.

You can see from the cover that they had a slightly darker ending initially. However, apparently due to fan pressure, they succumbed to the obvious. More on that soon.

So, decent stories and characters, what’s the problem? Patience. I will get to the bad and ugly (in spite of my promise of possibly doing away with this format) in the net sections. For now, that is the good of Marvel. In contrast, DC not only has good stories (better than Marvel some would say), but their cover prices are so much less. I know that sounds odd when the difference is only one dollar, but a dollar per books adds up. At the standard prices of 2.99 v. 3.99, you get an extra DC book per $12 spent. If you were on a $50 a week habit like me, that’s four books a week.

As a result, even if the books are of equal quality, the DC books will have more value. That point, in fact, came up in my conversation with Chris. He said how he wasn’t buying Marvel anymore unless they were on clearance. He then went on to mention that he thought the DC books were of better quality. I initially agreed and probably still do.

However, the more that i thought about it, the more that I realized that might be a false narrative. At the least, it is an exaggeration. Sure, Batman is the best book currently and might be one of the best ever. Scott Snyder has blown it out of the stratosphere with Metal. After those and maybe Tom King’s other book, Mr. Miracle, there is a definite drop off in quality. I sense a turn for the negative here, so let’s trot out that by line.

The Bad

In contrast to the last section, I am going to start out with DC here to keep the thought going and then switch to Marvel, because as it stands, the only ugly is going to be Marvel, so that thread will continue from this section into that one. I’ve already said that most, if not all, of the DC books have good characters and stories. Their Rebirth has been a reboot that has worked on so many levels. However, it hasn’t all been completely positive. Other than the books mentioned in the last section, there isn’t much that is worth the cover price. Wonder Woman without Greg Rucka has been quite the drop off. No other book makes me want to shell out 2.99 for 32 pages worth of entertainment.

I get that creators need to do what they enjoy and I actually like Black Magick very much, but I selfishly want him back on WW.

Well, if there’s nothing in DC that I’m willing to pay 3 dollars for, then there’s certainly nothing that Marvel is putting out right now that I’d pay 4 dollars for. I liked Secret Empire and was willing to give Legacy a chance. I liked that, too, and especially liked that it wasn’t a reboot. However, all of this was secretly while hoping that they might come to their senses and drop their cover prices. They never did, so I’m officially out again from comic collecting. I just cannot justify the price for what I’m getting.

The Ugly

So, perhaps I’m part of the problem. The other major revelation came during the conversation with my cousin. It actually started while I was talking to Chris, but when combined with the subject matter of the conversation with my cousin, it crystallized into a more solid form.

My cousin and I were talking about the new Star Wars movie (impressions coming in a couple of days), and I said something about Star Wars fans being the worst, but Marvel comic fans giving them a run for their money. While talking to Chris, I made the point that comic fans have disproportionate power right now. Star Wars can tell each individual fan to go fly a kite because they’re still going to make a billion dollars on every movie.

The profit margin is so low for comics and the audience is so small that every fan they lose is a huge blow to the bottom line. I thought that Disney might allow the comics division to be a loss leader because the movies have proven to be a money printing machine. Perhaps that was true for a while, but there seems to be a turning tide and that they are putting pressure on the comic guys to deliver the goods.

This is how I imagine all the Broflakes who get mad about the changes to the Marvel universe.

The main driver for this train of thought is that they are killing the Guardians of the Galaxy (or that was the chatter a couple of weeks ago) book in January even though it is one of their better movies. Chris mentioned that Marvel just doesn’t have the talent that DC does and I reiterated my point that they could drop the price, try out some “new” talent, and take a chance. However, that doesn’t seem to be an option anymore and now they’re stuck with this mess of a situation and no good plan as how to proceed because their fans have dictated so much of their recent plans.

The Verdict

Things don’t look good for comics. Like I said to my cousin, because he’s not a comics fan, just a fan of the movies, “Who cares, right?” Well, I care. Comic books were an outlet for an awkward teenage me and they have been a steady force in my life ever since. Whenever things start to get a bit too chaotic in the real world, I can pull myself into the pretend world of Gotham or Wakanda and forget about it for an hour or so. Video games also became that for me, but it’s been harder and harder to sit down to play a video game now that I’m older.

I honestly like what comics are doing now. I don’t mind the new characters, enjoy most of the events that have happened in my time back in the books. What I don’t like is the cover price and it isn’t just because it’s prohibitive for me. I can find ways around that. It’s also prohibitive to new fans that they are courting with these new characters. Who is going to take a chance on something that is so obviously and grossly overpriced? I will be the first to admit that I don’t have answers, but I’m hoping that someone out there with the power to do something will figure it out.

Digital Playground

I’m Taking that Candle

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Introduction

I know this is late for a preview/impressions post on the new Hearthstone expansion, as it has been out for about a week now. However, I have yet to actually play a game with any of the cards. As I said to Chris, I haven’t even opened a single pack from Knights of the Frozen Throne. I have played through only dungeon runs so far, which gives me almost no indication about the cards. Nevertheless, I’ve been watching and paying attention to the card reveals and think that I can give a decent impression to my fellow noobs.

Mechanics

I’m not positive if there aren’t usually very many new keywords in each set. I suppose that I could not be lazy and Google past sets, but then I might actually get a reputation for being a responsible journalist. Besides, I don’t even have to Google anything because I’m already on Hearthstonepedia (or whatever it’s called) so all I’d have to do is click a few links and I’m not even willing to do that much.

Seriously, have you seen House of Cards? Reporters just end up dead on the front of a subway train!

Recruit – This is the only official keyword that I can see that is new on the cards. There are a couple of others that show up once or twice or aren’t exactly keywords, per se, that I will review quickly at the end of the section. However, recruit is the only new bold word on card text. On the surface, it seems strong because it takes a card from your deck and puts it onto the battlefield. Yes, you read that right. Never change, Blizzard. Never change.

Spellstone – I wouldn’t necessarily call this a keyword. It is more of a card type. Each of the classes have a type of spellstone (only one now, but it’s probably only a matter of time before they introduce more) that does something relevant to the class. It starts off as a lesser spellstone, but can be upgraded to a spellstone and then further upgraded to a greater spellstone, again through some action that the class usually accomplishes through normal gameplay. I like the idea of these cards as they really push the narrative of being able to do things online that can’t be done in a traditional card game.

Legendary Weapons – Each class has also been given a new weapon of legendary status. Just like minions, only one can be included in a deck and they, at least on the surface, promise the same kind of game breaking potential. As they say, results may vary.

“Bonus effect” isn’t bold, but it does show up on several cards in the set. When you draw the card, you see the bonus effect which, in true Hearthstone fashion, is randomized.
I promised some unique mechanics in the set. As far as I know, this is the only card in the set with “dormant”. It also reads an awful lot like Dark Depths from Magic, though not as reliable…yet. I will say that I’ve been impressed at the Hearthstone team’s ability to make formerly terrible cards not as terrible. So, who knows. Before long, The Darkness could be meta.
 

Notable Cards

Please understand that this doesn’t mean good, or even necessarily playable cards. If you want that list, there are a thousand other pages that will give you the best cards, combos, decks, etc. If that’s what you’re looking for, you’re in the wrong place. I also just mentioned The Darkness and how bad it is, so I’m not going to waste your time with borderline unplayable cards. However, if you just want a (possibly random) collection of cool and interesting cards, read on!

I like this card because it takes the druid mechanic of choice and expands the possibilities. Very cool design.
Rogue finally gets secrets, something that seems to fit the class more than Paladin. This one is cool because it’s like a delayed shadowstep. Unfortunately, it’s very easy to play around, which defeats the purpose of secrets.
The first card in Hearthstone with “Trample” and it is a situational spell card. Weird, but neat!
There are at least two cards that have this ability only to attack if you have a certain amount of armor. It is a bit of a half measure between the “can’t attack” and normal minions. There are so many applications of this for other classes.
This is an example of them testing the waters with an idea (the mage quest) and then building on it. Admittedly, this is an odd application of the extra turn dynamic, but it shows that they are willing to take chances and experiment.

The Verdict

This set has perhaps the stupidest name for a card game expansion I’ve ever heard. I honestly thought it was one of Blizzard’s famous April’s Fools Day jokes either very late or a bit early when I first heard the name. In spite of that, I still logged in and claimed my packs. I haven’t opened them. Heck, I haven’t even opened my Frozen Throne packs, as I said earlier.

So, I don’t see this set getting me to play the game any more than I have been playing it to this point, which is only enough to finish a quest or two a day. What does get me to play more is interesting stuff like the mash up arena mode that they had for Halloween this year. I played through several of those runs. Oh, I have also done a few dungeon runs recently, and those have been a fun and interesting experience. Aside from that, though, I will just have another 50+ packs sitting in my inventory. Oh well, there’s always Eternal and Magic the Gathering to keep me busy.

On the Tabletop

Recapturing the Magic

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Introduction

I did an article a few weeks ago about the Nicol Bolas Archenemy set after playing it with Aiden and Quinn. While we still haven’t had a chance to play all four of us, we did simulate the experience recently. I played as both Bolas and one of the Gatewatch decks. What I found is that the encounter is tuned for 3 players to face the dragon. Not a huge surprise, but fun to see how precise Wizards has gotten in tuning the game. There are still powerful cards and decks in all formats, but they have come a long way since the overpowered Tarkir block and Standard is the most open that I’ve seen in the 3 or 4 years that I’ve been watching. In either case, once we get a chance to play the game as it is intended with all four of us, I will give another impression. This article is about the latest expansion, Ixalan.

The Good

Chris and I have been texting a bit back and forth about the recent sets. Nothing really jumped out at us from Kaladesh or Amonkhet, even if he was excited about the theme of Amonkhet. I think I might have mentioned it in my last article, but it didn’t even look like Ixalan would get me back into the game. Then, a few things happened. One, I stopped collecting comic books again. I enjoyed the stories and the community that I was starting to build, but I just couldn’t justify the cover prices anymore, especially at the rate I was buying the books. That freed up some money for other nerd pursuits. Then, I ran the idea of the set by Liam and he said, “Cool!”

Pirates and dinosaurs?! What more do you need?!

So, I took that saved comic book money and I blew it on a booster box and Fat Pack (now called a “bundle”, I think) for Ixalan because that’s how I roll. Primarily, I’ve been a collector and that usually gives me the most bang for my buck. I get a majority of the cards from the set for my binder and usually enough to add some cards to the couple of decks that I still have.

Granted, I still have to open the product. Some of that is neglect on my part. It took me forever to open my Amonkhet packs. I might even have half of a box that wasn’t opened. I know for a fact that we have Dicemasters left to open from the box that I purchased for the draft that we did a few months ago. Most of it, though, is that Liam was so excited for the cards that I wanted to open them when he had a chance to help us. He’s been in play, which has been intense over the last two weeks because it was showtime, but now that’s all over. In addition, I’d like to capture some content for a YouTube channel that has been criminally ignored for the better part of 2 years.

Actual footage from our YouTube channel. Actually, this would get more views.

So, this whole review is a bit disingenuous. When has that ever stopped us? I can definitely say that it is a good thing that I’m back into the game of Magic, even if I haven’t actually played against Chris in several months. He, too, has seen his interest in the game grow through his online business selling cards, so it might only be a matter of time before we get together for one of our infamous nerd nights and bust out the Magic cards.

The Bad

Knowing very little about the set, I can’t really give much in the ways of honest impressions, as I said earlier. However, I will say that no matter my chosen nerd hobby of the moment, I tend to go overboard. I was spending almost 200 dollars a month in comics for most of the year. I bought a box of Dicemasters and Heroclix to prepare for a podcast episode that was supposed to be made several months ago (and finally hopefully will this weekend). I always buy a booster box and fat pack of every Magic set (including going back in history to the first Mirrodin set when I started getting back into gaming all those years ago) and I’m now trying to resist purchasing an XBox One, even though it would make for good gaming partners with Kevin, maybe Chris, and the boys.

Tom gets me.

So, it is bad that I’m back into Magic. It isn’t as bad as if I decided to start buying comics again. I think I might have even said as much to Chris during one of our conversations. Something along the lines of Magic might have been expensive, but at least it was only 200 dollars every couple of months instead of every month and the cards have more utility than the comic books. The comic books are easier to display, but who the hell do I have coming to my house to look at my comic book collection? At least with the cards, I can play the game against my kids even if Chris and I are too busy to hang out.

The Ugly

You know, I put together this format early in my blogging career…wait, can you call it a career if you’ve never made a dime from it? Nevertheless, this format worked well for my Steelers page because there’s almost always at least one good thing, one bad thing, and one really terrible thing that you can take from a sporting event, if it is properly framed. However, being critical of creative projects is a much trickier proposition and I don’t always have something terrible to say about them. I understand that people often put their hearts and souls into the creative pursuits and therefore try to find the good in them. Usually I can stretch to find a bad, but “The Ugly” is usually just me explaining myself or making an awkward joke.

Worst. Critic. Ever.

Maybe I will try a little harder to find things that I don’t like for these reviews. Maybe I will better research a product before posting a review of it. After all, Googling “Ixalan spoilers” isn’t exactly the epitome of responsible journalism. Maybe I will tweak the format to more appropriately match my overall optimistic and sunny demeanor. After all, it is based on a 50 year old movie and probably not speaking to the demographic that we should be courting.

The Verdict

Pirates and dinosaurs were enough to get me interested in Magic again. I can’t speak personally on the overall quality of the set, but having watched a few Twitch streams recently, I do think that the Standard meta is healthy and that Wizards has recovered nicely from the stale experience that the overpowered Tarkir block brought. It’s a bit bad for my budget that I’m into Magic again, but not nearly as bad as comic books were. Overall, I’m excited about the game again and that’s a positive.